Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 13:2

And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

2. all faith ] In the sense of ch. 1Co 12:9, where see note.

so that I could remove mountains ] A quotation of words recorded in St Mat 17:20; Mat 21:21. Whether St Matthew’s Gospel were already written or not, these words had reached St Paul, and this must be regarded as a confirmation of the truth of the Gospel narrative. It is remarkable that they appear in a different form in St Luke (Luk 17:6).

I am nothing ] The Apostle does not say that it is possible for a man to have all these gifts without love. He only says that if it were possible, it would be useless. But real faith, in the Scripture sense, without love, is an impossibility. Cf. Gal 5:6; Eph 3:17; Eph 3:19; Eph 4:13-16; St Jas 2:18-26. True Christian faith unites us to Christ, Who is Love.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And though I have the gift of prophecy – See the note at 1Co 12:10; note at 1Co 14:1.

And understand all mysteries – On the meaning of the word mystery see note, 1Co 2:7. This passage proves that it was one part of the prophetic office, as referred to here, to be able to understand and explain the mysteries of religion; that is, the things that were before unknown, or unrevealed. It does not refer to the prediction of future events, but to the great and deep truths connected with religion; the things that were unexplained in the old economy, the meaning of types and emblems; and the obscure portions of the plan of redemption. All these might be plain enough if they were revealed; but there were many things connected with religion which God had not chosen to reveal to people.

And all knowledge – See the note at 1Co 12:8. Though I knew every thing. Though I were acquainted fully with all the doctrines of religion; and were with all sciences and arts.

And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains – Thould I should have the highest kind of faith. This is referred to by the Saviour Mat 17:20, as the highest kind of faith; and Paul here had this fact doubtless in his eye.

I am nothing – All would be of no value. it would not save me. I should still be an unredeemed, unpardoned sinner. I should do good to no one; I should answer none of the great purposes which God has designed; I should not by all this secure my salvation. All would be in vain in regard to the great purpose of my existence. None of these things could be placed before God as a ground of acceptance in the Day of Judgment. Unless I should have love, I should still be lost. A somewhat similar idea is expressed by the Saviour, in regard to the Day of Judgment, in Mat 7:22-23, Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

1Co 13:2

And though I have the gift of prophecy and have not charity, I am nothing.

Strong love

These are the words of a man of high culture, who could prophesy and work miracles, and had attained great faith, to the most learned nation in the world. See how he loads the scales and strikes the balance of head and heart !All the rest is as light as a feather compared with love.

I. Why should love rank thus high?

1. God is love. God has knowledge, and wisdom, and power infinite; but He is never said to be knowledge, etc. Love is His essence, the rest are His attributes: and whatever comes nearest to the image of God is the finest condition of man.

2. The greatest deed ever done was the result of love.

3. The first-fruit of the Holy Ghost is love. So we have a Trinity of love.

4. What brings salvation? Say that I believe every truth in the Bible. That is all nothing. The devils believe and tremble. But when I believe and feel it is all for me, it is mine immediately I love. I cannot help loving when it is so personal to myself, and that moment I am saved.

5. And what moves to good actions and makes them continuous? Love. There are plenty of things which will give impulse and start, but there is only love which will give continuance. Love, and only love, therefore, is the fulfilling of the law

6. What will be the subject of the great Judgment Day? Love. Inasmuch as ye have done, etc.

7. And what will heaven be? Perfect love.

8. And what is the whole summary of the law by which we try ourselves? Thou shalt love. That is the great subject of self-examination this Lent.

9. And why are we to be sorry for our sins, and so humble? From sorrow for having been so very ungrateful to so good a God. This is the true spirit of all Lenten exercises, without which it would not be acceptable to God, nor do us any good.

II. How is this prerequisite for all that is good and pleasing to God, and all that shall make our very being in His sight to be obtained?

1. Take clearer and loving views of God, always waiting and yearning to receive back His prodigal.

2. Take grand views of the power of the Cross. And as you see it, feel That is all for me.

3. Cherish every good emotion of the Holy Ghost. Especially look to Him as the love-maker, and ask Him to create love in that heart of yours.

4. And then, as working with Him, who is working in you, do stronger battle with your temper, pride, selfishness.

5. Then go and do some acts of love. Acts make motives, as well as motives make acts. Do acts of love, that you may get the spirit of love.

6. But remember above all that all life, which is life indeed, is the result of union with Him, who is the life. The life of love depends upon that union; without it, love will soon die. Having Christ, you will have love; but the more you have of Christ, the more you will always say, I am nothing, because Christ is everything. (J. Vaughan, M.A.)

Love superior to gifts

I. In its nature.

1. Noble as were these gifts, they were simply intellectual or executive, not moral. So distinct is charity, the moral product of the Spirits regenerating power, from these extraordinary gifts, that Paul in this discourse could eliminate it, and represent the highest endowments as existing without it. Look on the prophet of Midian. You can almost feel the thrill of his inspiration. And yet the name of Balaam is a synonym of the wickedness of all who love the wages of unrighteousness. Who can read the story of Jonah without admiration of his message and of contempt for the man? Our Lord gave to His twelve disciples power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease, and Judas Iscariot was amongst them. The apostles had power to heal the sick, but not grace enough to prevent them from striving which should be the greatest. They had faith to cast out devils, but they all forsook Him and fled, and one denied Him. In this Corinthian Church, which seems to have been distinguished above all others in miraculous force, these gifts were accompanied with glaring inconsistencies.

2. Charity, on the other hand, is moral. It is the product of the Spirit in the moral nature. It is the single element of holy character; and all moral excellence must be traced back to love, even as under the searching analysis of the spectroscope it has been suggested that all material substances may be traced to a single element.

(1) God is love; but that love differs in its forms of expression with the different relations of its exercise. In relation to right and wrong, justice; in relation to need and suffering, mercy; in relation to pardon, grace.

(2) And so all human goodness is resolved into love.

(a) Love, in relation to Gods majesty, is adoration, worship; in relation to His will, submission; in relation to His command, obedience; to His superiority, humility; to His grace in Christ and to His declarations, faith; to His bestowals, gratitude.

(b) So love, in relation to human need, is beneficence; in relation to injury, meekness; in relation to trials, patience; and in relation to the want and the woe of a lost world for which Christ died, it is the pity and the love and the longing which find expression in intercession and in service.

3. Thus, in its very nature, is charity superior to all gifts. Gifts were a power conferred, charity is the Divine requirement; in gifts, Gods natural attributes are represented; in holy love, His moral perfection. Miraculous gifts are super-imposed by the Spirit. In love the Spirit communicates Himself to us in His own true nature. Love unites the soul in fellowship and sympathy with God, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God.

II. In the fact that it was the end for which all, supernatural endowments were given. They were the scaffolding of that temple whose shrine is love. And so gifts of miraculous power would be withdrawn, but love would be eternal. There is no more need of miracles. But the Spirits distinctive work continues, and we receive not the power of Christ, but the Spirit of Christ; not the arm or the lips of Christ, but fellowship with the heart of Christ. No miracle so much declares the excellence and the might of the Spirit as the conversion of such a man as Bunyan, the production of such a character as that of John Howard, or such triumphant resignation as that of the dairymans daughter. Thus secondary are gifts, and thus pre-eminent is charity, intrinsically good, god-like, enduring. For this let the Church long rather than for the return of miracle, that thus, ye being rooted and grounded in love, etc. Conclusion:

1. There is entering into the religious thinking and experience of our time an element which greatly needs the antidote of this discussion. Men are eagerly gazing for prodigies of the Spirit, miracles of healing, etc.

2. So also what claims and aims to be a superior type of piety, places emphasis on what relates to intellect and power, rather than on character. Natural gifts now, like those that were supernatural, are desirable. Consecrated in love, they shall be sources of a princely Christian power; but gifts do not indicate the genuineness or the degree of holy devotion. Jesus has said that in the great day many will say unto Me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, etc. (A. H. Coolidge.)

The worthlessness of gifts without love

I. Prophecy–i.e., preaching. Great power of setting forth the truths of the gospel often co-exists with a bitter, exclusive, uncharitable spirit. Has not the hatred of theologians become a byword? Look at the language of so-called religious publications, and judge by it of that which is current where they circulate. What is our religious influence upon the world without, with all our preaching, religious meetings, reports, pleadings for good and for God? Are not our hospitals, reformatories, missions, church-buildings, struggling or languishing–striving to exist by continually strained artificial appeals from the pulpit and from the platform? Is it not true that, having this gift of utterance in abundance, yet as to any worthy effect on the vast mass of wealth and talent about us we are next to nothing? And this because of our want of love.

II. The understanding of mysteries and all knowledge.

1. What St. Paul intended we may gather from his own expressions, viz., the mystery of Gods purpose in revealing the gospel to the Gentiles; in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He refers, therefore, to sacred things, and the knowledge of the truths of salvation.

2. There is such a thing as a very accurate and thorough knowledge of Christian doctrine; nay, more, a power of reasoning able to enter thoroughly into, and carry further, speculations on the deep things of God; and yet all this taken up and carried on in a cold and selfish and unloving spirit. Some of the soundest theologians have been some of the keenest haters. It is perhaps one of the commonest temptations of those who are much versed in theology to forget the necessity of allowing for those who differ from them. And what have been the consequences?

(1) A considerable portion of the knowledge of Divine things has remained shut up as the possession of one or other of the Churches.

(2) A proficient in doctrinal distinctions has almost always been a person dreaded and shunned as exclusive and narrow-minded.

III. Faith and power to work miracles.

1. Faith is realising belief in the truth of God. The faithful man not only yields assent to, but believes and lives in, Gods revelation concerning His Son. And that no less than this is meant is evident; for Pauls supposition is dealt with also by our Lord, when He says, No man that can do a miracle in My name can speak lightly of Me.

2. I suppose, if we are to translate what is said into the language of our own day, we have a man working by means of faith great victories over himself and others, mighty in word and deed; and yet such an one is nothing. Why? Because these spiritual endowments are held and exercised in an unloving spirit. Thus even Divine truth loses its power for good: with such an one, even the birth of the Spirit is cut off in mid-youth, and comes to an untimely end: beneath such an one, even the Rock of Ages crumbles away like the shifting sand.

(1) We uphold essentials in a wrong spirit. Is our usual behaviour to, and method of speaking of, the so-called Unitarian such as to induce him to re-examine the grounds of a faith which can bring forth such fruits?

(2) We put that first which should be second. The first and indispensable care for every Christian and every Christian body is the spirit of love. No difference of belief can be truly conscientious unless it be subordinated to the spirit of love. If you are a Christian, you must love me before you can conscientiously differ from me. (Dean Alford.)

The life of the affections

1. Ours is an age of great intellectual activity. In former times, first physical strength, then birth or hereditary rank, then and almost till now, wealth, have successively been the measures of greatness. But now the aristocracy of the world is an aristocracy of intellect. But there is danger that, while we rejoice in having found something better than men used to seek and strive for, we may not recognise that which alone is supremely good. Religion is the life of the affections; and in the reverence now paid to intellect there is danger that religion be undervalued, and that the affections, which are its throne, receive much less than their due regard and cultivation.

2. By the religious life I mean a life, not of mere proprieties, but of love. It includes, first, the thankful recognition of a present God, and the exercise of the affections in worship and obedience; then and thence, the cherishing of sincere brotherly love towards our fellow-men.

I. The life of the affections is essential to the full development and healthy working of the intellect. The affections are our highest faculties. They have the nearest view of truth, and the strongest hold upon it. Of the men who have essentially connected their names with the progress of the race, there has been hardly one whose mind was not trained by religious faith. There exists an essential connection of cause and effect between the life of the heart and that of the mind, and the highest walks of intellectual greatness cannot be reached without the keenness, breadth, and loftiness of vision which religion alone can supply. There are many men who exert no intellectual influence, simply because they have no moral power. They are shrewd, well-informed, and of admirable executive capacity; and yet you cannot render them confidence, because their views are all sordid, narrow, and selfish.

II. Compare the life of the affections and that of the intellect as to the promise of success and attainment. In every path of intellectual effort the prizes are but for few. But the high places of moral excellence are within the reach of all. How much nearer absolute perfection can we approach in the moral than in the intellectual life! Our growth in knowledge is growth in conscious ignorance. But of the life of the affections, of that love which mounts to the throne of God, and excludes none of His children from its embrace, the Divine Teacher has said, Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. The wisest men have always been outgrown in a few generations. We look down on all ancient wisdom as men used to look up to it; and future generations will learn in their infant schools truths that have but just dawned upon the greatest minds of the present day. But a good man the world never outgrows, never looks down upon.

III. Compare the life of mere intellect with that of the afffctions as to the power of resisting temptation. It is a common idea that a clear mind and an accurate perception of the qualities and tendencies of actions are enough to save one from moral degradation. But I have known men, second to none of our day in mental power and culture, ensnared in palpable and gross meanness, and many of the highest mental endowments sleep in early graves dug by their own profligacy. But the affections, fixed on a present God, and filling the life with charity, have power over every meaner propensity of our nature. The soul that prays has ever at hand a name in which it can bid the tempter depart.

IV. The life of intellect has its meridian and then its decline. One must expect to see more recent wisdom preferred to his own. And he who is thus set aside, if possessed of no moral resources, grows almost uniformly unhappy and misanthropic. But moral qualities fade not with declining years. The plants of our Heavenly Fathers planting are all evergreens. Nor yet is the good man, in his old age, thrust aside, or willingly spared from his post of duty. Veneration and love for him only grow the more intense and tender as his steps tremble on the margin of eternity.

V. It becomes every prudent man to take some account of that only event, death, which is sure to all. Did you know death to be close at hand, as it may be, is there anything in mere attainments which would nerve you to meet the last hour with serenity, confidence, and hope? (A. Peabody, D.D.)

Man-worth

The greatest thing in the universe is mind, and the greatest thing in mind is love. This love, however–

1. Is not the gregarious sentiment which links us to, and gives us an interest in, our species. All sentient creatures have this. It is a blessing, but not a virture. Man is no more to be praised or blamed for its existence than he is for the colour of his skin.

2. Nor is it theological love; that affection which one has for those of his faith and sect, but which will look coldly upon all besides–which reduces the gospel to a dogma, and man to a bigot.

3. Nor is it sacerdotal love–that love which speaks from ecclesiastical chairs about the cure of souls and Church extension, but whispers no accents of sympathy for the woes of the race.

4. But it is a generous moral sympathy for the race springing from love to the Creator. If a man love God, he will love his brother also. Jesus was the incarnation of this love, the love which alone can confer real worth on humanity. Man, without this love, is nothing–

I. In relation to nature. As nature would be nothing to a man whose senses were sealed up, or whose reflective faculty was paralysed, so it is nothing to a man who has not a loving heart. To such a man the world is merely a larder to feed him, a wardrobe to clothe him, a market to enrich him, or, at most, a riddle to amuse his intellect. Love entering the heart of a selfish man touches all nature into a new form. To the sensual, nature is gratification; to the thinker, it is theory; to the loving, it is heaven.

II. In relation to Providence. If I have not love, Providence ministers no real good to me. I am amidst its influences, not like the healthy man, feeling the buoyant throbbing of new life flowing from salubrious wind and quickening scenes, but like one whose system is the subject of a mortal disease, having no power to appropriate the healthy elements. As the mortally diseased must say, I am nothing to the health-giving economy of nature, so the unloving must say, I am nothing in relation to the spiritual blessings of Providence. But love in the heart makes Providence a minister for good–and for good only. Like the bee, it transmutes the bitterest fruit into honey; like the AEolian harp, it turns the wildest wind into music. Tribulation worketh patience, because the love of God is shed abroad, in the heart.

III. In relation to Christianity.

1. Christianity is a revelation of love, and none but the loving can rise to its meaning. Mind destitute of this generous element, however powerful in philosophy, etc., will be as incapable of understanding it as the wayward boy the workings of a mothers heart, or the frozen-souled miser Howards philanthropy.

2. Still more, that which renders us incapable of entering into its meaning, unfits at the same time from applying its overtures. It is a system of great and precious promises, which offer Gods strength in weakness, His guidance in perplexity, etc. But is there one who, uninspired with love, dares apply a single promise?

IV. In relation to the community of the good. Wherever they exist they have the same bond of union, the same principle of inspiration, and the same standard of worth. What is that? Wealth, learning, talent, birth? Such is the corrupt state of society here, that if a man have any of these, especially the first, he is recognised as a respectable member, however cold and callous his heart. But in the great community of the good love is everything. (D. Thomas, D.D.)

Intellect without love

I. How much can it achieve?

1. It is capable of inspiration.

2. Can penetrate to mysteries.

3. Acquire all knowledge.

II. How little is it worth? It cannot–

1. Change its heart.

2. Conquer sin.

3. Please God.

4. Secure heaven. (J. Lyth, D.D.)

Knowledge without love

There is a well-authenticated tradition of a famous argument between that great scholar and divine Bishop Horsley, and Dr. Cyril Jackson, dean of Christ Church. They sat late into the night debating the question whether God could be better reached through the exercise of the intellect, or through the exercise of the affection. Unwillingly, but step by step, the bishop, who advocated the claims of intellect, retreated before the arguments of his friend, till at length, in a spirit which did no less honour to his humility than to his candour, he exclaimed, Then my whole life has been one great mistake. Certainly that conclusion had been already anticipated by St. Paul; and the extreme antagonist theory, whether put forward by primitive Gnostics, or by paradoxical schoolmen, or by the cold sceptics of the last ago, has never found an echo in the great heart of the human family. For men perceive that a pure intellectualism is apt to fall short even of the lower measures of duty. When it is unbalanced by a warm heart and a vigorous will, the mere cultivation of mind makes a man alternately selfish and weak. Selfish; if, for instance, to the prosecution of a private speculation or to the assertion of a private theory, the faith, the moral vigour, the broadest and highest interests of others are sacrificed or postponed. Weak; when the entire man is cultivated intellect and nothing else, neither love nor resolution; when the clearness of intellectual perception contrasts grimly with the absence of any practical effort; when mental development, instead of being the crowning grace of a noble character, is but as an unseemly and unproductive fungus, that has drained out to no purpose the life and strength of its parent soul. Instead of protecting and illustrating that Truth which really nerves the will for action, intellect has too often amused itself with pulverising all fixed convictions. It has persuaded itself that it can dispense with those high motives, without which it is itself too cold and incorporeal a thing to be of practical service in this human world. It has learnt to rejoice in its own selfish if not aimless energy; but it really has abandoned the highest work of which it was capable; it has left to an unintellectual enthusiasm, to men of much love, if of inferior mental cultivation, the task of stimulating and guiding the true progress of mankind. (Canon Liddon.)

Faith and love

1. What is charity? St. Paul answers by giving a great number of properties of it. Which of all these is it, for if it is all at once, surely it is a name for all virtues? And what makes this conclusion still more plausible is that St. Paul calls charity the fulfilling of the law: and our Saviour makes our whole duty consist in loving God and our neighbour. And St. James calls it the royal law: and St. John says, We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.

2. It is well, by way of contrast, to consider the description of faith in Heb 11:1-40, which starts with a definition of it, and is then illustrated in a series of instances. How then is it that faith is of so definite a character, and love so large and comprehensive?

3. Now the reason is what at first sight is the difficulty. The difficulty is whether, if love be such as here described, it is not all virtues at once. In one sense it is, and therefore St. Paul cannot describe it more definitely. It is the root of all holy dispositions, and grows and blossoms into them: they are its parts; and when it is described, they of necessity are mentioned. Love is the material out of which all graces are made, and as being such, it will last for ever. Charity. or love, never faileth. Faith and hope are graces of an imperfect state, and they cease with that state; but love is greater, because it is perfection. Faith will be lost in sight, and hope in enjoyment; but love will increase more and more to all eternity. Faith and hope are means by which we express our love: we believe Gods Word, because we love it; we hope after heaven, because we love it. Faith, then, and hope are but instruments or expressions of love; but as to love itself, we do not love because we believe, for the devils believe, yet do not love; nor do we love because we hope, for hypocrites hope, who do not love. Balaam had faith and hope, but not love. May I die the death of the righteous! is an act of hope. The word that the Lord putteth into my mouth, that will I speak, is an act of faith; but his conduct showed that neither his faith nor his hope was loving. The servant in the parable, who fell down at his lords feet, and begged to be excused his debt, had both faith and hope. He believed his lord able, and he hoped him willing, to forgive him. But he had neither love of God nor of his brother. There are then two kinds of faith in God, a good and a worthless; and two kinds of hope, good and worthless: but there are not two kinds of love of God. In the text it is said, Though I had all faith, yet without love I am nothing: it is nowhere said, Though I have all love, without faith I am nothing. Love, then, is the seed of holiness, and grows into all excellences, not indeed destroying their peculiarities, but making them what they are.

4. But here it may be asked, whether Scripture does not make faith, not love, the root, and all graces its fruits. I think not. In our Lords parable of the Sower we read of persons who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, yet having no root, fall away. Now, receiving the word with joy, surely implies faith; faith, then, is certainly distinct from the root. However, it is allowable to call faith the root, because, in a certain sense at least, works do proceed from it. And hence Scripture speaks of faith working by love. And in this chapter we read of faith, hope, and charity, which seems to imply that faith precedes charity (see also 1Ti 1:5). In what sense, then, is faith the beginning of love, and love of faith? I observe faith is the first element of religion, and love, of holiness; and as holiness and religion are distinct, yet united, so are love and faith. Faith is to love as religion to holiness; for religion is the Divine law as coming to us from without, as holiness is the acquiescence in the same law as written within. Love is meditative, tranquil, gentle, abounding in all offices of goodness and truth; and faith is strenuous and energetic, formed for this world, combating it, training the mind towards love, fortifying it in obedience, and overcoming sense and reason by representations more urgent than their own. Moreover, it is plain that, while love is the root out of which faith grows, faith by receiving the wonderful tidings of the gospel, and presenting before the soul its sacred objects, expands our love, and raises it to a perfection which otherwise it could never reach. And thus our duty lies in faith working by love; love is the sacrifice we offer to God, and faith is the sacrificer. Yet they are not distinct from each other except in our way of viewing them. Priest and sacrifice are one; the loving faith and the believing love. Faith at most only makes a hero, but love makes a saint; faith can but put us above the world, but love brings us under Gods throne; faith can but make us sober, but love makes us happy. (J. H. Newman, D.D.)

Faith and charity

The unity of the Bible is a unity of spirit within a changeful individual variety. The writers care little for seeming contradiction. St. James and St. Paul would have smiled if they heard their several views of faith pitted against one another. They would have said, We are at root agreed, but we each follow a different radius from the same centre. St. Paul would have been exceedingly surprised if he had heard that the text was considered as in the slightest degree lessening the full value of Christs saying, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, etc. In fact, St. Paul balances this statement as Christ Himself would have done, and we shall follow him to-day, and balance the glory of faith by the glory of charity. The phrase is strange on the lips of the apostle who, more than all the others dwelt on faith; but for that very reason it has additional force. Note–

I. The need of this balance.

1. There have been times when faith has been insisted on, and love put in the background. Men had faith–they did remove mountains–but they grew to be nothing because they lost love, and the mountains were only removed to be rebuilt. Wherever we look in the history of religion we find that faith without love does nothing for the progress of man.

2. There have been times when love has been so insisted on as to put the necessity for a clearly conceived statement of faith into the background.

(1) Such teaching made religious life first too sentimental, and then often hysterical. The idea of God lost the sternness necessary to check sin, and the result was a widespread immorality.

(2) Another form of the same thing is found in those who maintain that love to man is enough, without faith in God; and the result is that while the body is helped and the mind strengthened, the soul, left untouched, grows hard. The history of philanthropy without faith in God is written in loss of the culture of the highest feelings, in despondency, and often in revolutionary excess. Mazzini saw that with regard to the French Revolution. Faith in God, in his view and in that of all great prophets, was necessary as the balance of love of man.

II. Faith in God is nothing without love of man, and nothing without love of God.

1. It is nothing without love of man.

(1) There is a faith without love which takes scorn for its companion. It arises chiefly in those who have become one-sided from having been brought up in a closed circle of opinions. They despise then those who contradict them, just as the one-sided scientist despises those who deny theories which seem proved to him, or as the extremely cultured person has scorn of him whom he calls a Philistine. The religious man suffers more than the rest, for the very life of his religion is love to man, and he ceases, in proportion as he loses love, to be religious at all. With scorn, how can you befit all things for men, believe and hope all things for them, endure all things that they may advance? The faith in God which has in it any scorn of others is without charity, and is nothing, and you who have, or seem to have it, are also nothing.

(2) Another kind of faith which has a tendency to lose love–the impetuous faith. It is full of love to man, of longings for his progress. It believes and hopes all things for all men, and in idea it does not fail in love. But in practical life it sometimes sins against love for the very sake of love. Suppose that a man who feels that faith in God, as a Father of men, and in immortality as the destiny of man, are the very pillars of the universe, meet those who quietly deny these truths, he will feel this denial, not as a personal insult, as the man who scorns others does, but as an injury done to the whole human race he loves. But the intensity of his feeling will lead him into violence of his words; and forgetting that the question is for God, the advocate of charity forgets that charity doth not behave itself unseemly, and does not seek her own. The result is, his faith and he are for the time nothing. He has done harm to Gods cause, and to his own influence. What should be his guard?

(a) He should remember that the questions he supports do not stand by his support, but by Gods. He should have truer faith; for in losing love he has also in reality lost faith. If his faith were firm, he would not think that a few doubts or many sceptics could shake the pillars of heaven.

(b) And he should recall in society the words, Love beareth all things. Make love the ceaseless companion of faith, and then faith will not fail. Make faith intense enough, and then love will not fail.

2. There is a faith in God without love of God, which is also nothing.

(1) Faith in a creed only, and not in a Divine Spirit that dwells within us. Such a faith leaves you a nothing, and in itself it is nothing also–the mere froth of the wave. But love of God in marriage with faith in a creed about Him are living powers. It is all the difference between saying, I believe that the seamen of England in some small ships destroyed the great Armada, and it is an interesting story, and saying, I believe it, and I love my nation for it; I rejoice to belong to a people capable of such great doing, and every drop of my blood thrills when I hear the tale. That is faith and love together, and it produces results in thought and action. So mere faith in Gods fatherhood is only assent to a statement; but when we feel Him as our Father, our whole heart, brimming over with love, grows passionate with desire to be like Him, and do His will.

(2) Faith in God without love of Him may be faith in an abstract idea to which we give His name. We may confess Him as the Thought that makes the universe, or as the Order that keeps it in harmony, or as the Movement that builds or unbuilds it. And it is wise and right to so believe. But, first, it is not a belief which will do for the whole of life. It is not human; it may do for rocks and stones and trees, but not for men, women, and children. It may do to explain the earthquake and the outburst of the morning, but not the shattered heart or the rapture of the soul. It may satisfy us as we see the building of the crystal, but it will not satisfy us as we watch the building up of our childs character. Nor will it satisfy us as we consider through ages past the upbuilding of the human race, for into that upbuilding an almost infinite disorder seems to enter–sin and sorrow, and it would seem aimless sacrifice. Oh, then, in order to be at rest, to be able to work and worship with hope and joy, to have the heart to be something and not nothing, we must add love of God to faith in God. For only when we love Him do we understand and feel that He loves us, and that His love will make clear and right at last, not only the tangle of our childs character, but the tangled web of the whole world of men. (Stopford A. Brooke, M.A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 2. And though I have the gift of prophecy] Though I should have received from God the knowledge of future events, so that I could correctly foretell what is coming to pass in the world and in the Church:-

And understand all mysteries] The meaning of all the types and figures in the Old Testament, and all the unexplored secrets of nature; and all knowledge-every human art and science; and though I have all faith-such miraculous faith as would enable me even to remove mountains; or had such powerful discernment in sacred things that I could solve the greatest difficulties, See Clarke on Mt 21:21, and have not charity-this love to God and man, as the principle and motive of all my conduct, the characteristics of which are given in the following verses; I am nothing-nothing in myself, nothing in the sight of God, nothing in the Church, and good for nothing to mankind. Balaam, and several others not under the influence of this love of God, prophesied; and we daily see many men, who are profound scholars, and well skilled in arts and sciences, and yet not only careless about religion but downright infidels! It does not require the tongue of the inspired to say that these men, in the sight of God, are nothing; nor can their literary or scientific acquisitions give them a passport to glory.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

And though I have the gift of prophecy: it hath been before showed, that the gift of prophecy, signifieth an extraordinary power or faculty, by which men in those primitive times were enabled to reveal the mind and will of God, either as to future contingencies, or things which should afterwards come to pass in the world, or by further explication or application of the mind and will of God already revealed in holy writ.

And understand all mysteries, and all knowledge: though, saith the apostle, I have a vast knowledge, and could in any notion comprehend the most sublime and hidden things, whether Divine or human.

And though I have all faith (except that which is saving and justifying).

So that I could remove mountains: he further opens what faith he meant, viz. faith of miracles, a firm persuasion that God would upon my prayer work things beyond the power, and contrary to the course, of nature: the apostle alludeth to the words of our Saviour, Mat 17:20.

And have not charity, I am nothing; yet, saith he, if I have not love, that true love to God and men, by which that faith which is profitable to salvation worketh and showeth itself, it will all signify nothing, be of no profit nor avail unto me in order to my eternal salvation; I may perish for ever, notwithstanding such gifts.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

2. mysteries (Rom 11:25;Rom 16:25). Mysteriesrefer to the deep counsels of God hitherto secret, but now revealedto His saints. Knowledge, to truths long known.

faith . . . remove mountains(Mat 17:20; Mat 21:21).The practical power of the will elevated by faith [NEANDER];confidence in God that the miraculous result will surely follow theexercise of the will at the secret impulse of His Spirit. Without”love” prophecy, knowledge, and faith, are not what theyseem (compare 1Co 8:1; 1Co 8:2;Mat 7:22; Jas 2:14;compare 1Co 13:8), and so failof the heavenly reward (Mt 6:2).Thus Paul, who teaches justification by faith only (Rom 3:4;Rom 3:5; Gal 2:16;Gal 3:7-14), is shown toagree with James, who teaches (Jas2:24) “by works” (that is, by LOVE,which is the “spirit” of faith, Jas2:26) a man is justified, “and not by faith only.”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And though I have the gift of prophecy,…. Either of foretelling future events, as Balaam, who foretold many things concerning the Messiah and the people of Israel, and yet had no true love for either; and Caiaphas, who was high priest the year Christ suffered, and prophesied of his death, and was himself concerned in it, being a bitter enemy to him; or of explaining the prophecies of the Old Testament, by virtue of an extraordinary gift which some persons had; or of the ordinary preaching of the word, which is sometimes expressed by prophesying, which gift some have had, and yet not the grace of God; see Php 1:15

and understand all mysteries; either the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the mysterious doctrines of the Gospel; such as the trinity of persons in the Godhead, the incarnation of Christ, the unity of the two natures, human and divine, in him, eternal predestination, the doctrines of regeneration, justification, satisfaction, and the resurrection of the dead; all which a man may have a speculative understanding of, and be without love to God or Christ, or to his people: or else the mystical sense of the types, figures, and shadows of the old law; as the meaning of the passover, brazen serpent, and the rock in the wilderness, the tabernacle, temple, sacrifices, and all things appertaining thereunto. The Jews give us an instance c of one who was no lover of Christ, and lived in the times of the apostle; R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, of whom they boast, and who they say was the least of the disciples of Hillell, and yet

“perfectly understood the Scripture, the Misna, the Gemara, the traditions, the allegorical interpretations, the niceties of the law, and the subtleties of the Scribes, the lighter and weightier matters of the law (or the arguments from the greater to the lesser, and “vice versa”), the arguments taken from a parity of reason, the revolution of the sun and moon, rules of interpretation by gematry, parables, c.”

The apostle proceeds,

and all knowledge of things natural, as Solomon had; of the heavens, and the stars thereof, of the earth and sea, and all things therein, and appertaining thereunto; of all languages, arts, and sciences; of things divine, as a speculative knowledge of God, and the perfections of his nature, of Christ, his person and offices, of the Gospel, and the doctrines of it:

and though I have all faith; not true, special, saving faith, or that faith in Christ, which has salvation connected with it; for a man cannot have that, and be nothing; such an one shall be certainly saved; and besides, this cannot be without love, and therefore not to be supposed: but all historical faith, an assent to everything that is true, to all that is contained in the Scriptures, whether natural, civil, moral, or evangelical; to all that is contained in the law, or in the Gospel; that faith which believes everything: so the Jews d say, what is faith? that in which is found , “all faith”; or rather the faith of miracles is meant, both of believing and doing all sorts of miracles, one of which is mentioned;

so that I could remove mountains; meaning either literally, a power of removing mountains from one place to another, referring to

Mt 17:20 so Gregory of Neocaesarea, called “Thaumaturgus”, the wonder worker, from the miracles done by him, is said e to remove a mountain, to make more room for building a church; but whether fact, is a question; or this may be understood figuratively, see Re 8:8 for doing things very difficult and wonderful, and almost incredible. The Jews used to call their learned and profound doctors, such as could solve difficulties, and do wondrous things, by the name of mountains, or removers of mountains; thus f

“they called Rab Joseph, “Sinai”, because he was very expert in the Talmudic doctrines, and Rabbah bar Nachmani,

, “a rooter up of mountains”; because he was exceeding acute in subtle disputations.”

Says Rabba g to his disciples,

“lo, I am ready to return an answer smartly to everyone that shall ask me, as Ben Azzai, who expounded in the streets of Tiberias; and there was not in his days such a

, “rooter up of mountains”, as he.”

Again h,

“Ula saw Resh Lekish in the school, as if , “he was rooting up the mountains”, and grinding them together; says Rabenu, does not everybody see R. Meir in the school, as if he was “rooting up the mountains of mountains”, and grinding them together?”

They i elsewhere dispute which is the most honourable to be called, “Sinai” or a remover of mountains;

“one says “Sinai” is the more excellent name; another says “the rooter up of mountains” is the more excellent; Rab Joseph is Sinai, and Rabbah the remover of mountains;”

the gloss says the former is so called,

“because the Misnic laws and their explications were ordered by him, as if they had been given on Mount Sinai,”

though he was not so acute as Rabbah; and the latter was called the rooter up of mountains, because

“he was sharp and subtle in the law;”

once more on those words relating to Issachar, Ge 49:15 “and bowed his shoulder to bear”, it is observed k; that

“this intimates that he was wise in wisdom, , “a breaker of the mountains”, a shatterer in pieces of the rocks of dissensions and division various ways; as it is said, Jer 23:29 “is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” So a wise man, by the sharpness of his wit, breaks the mountains of difficulties, and divides them by the words of his mouth: hence they used to call the wise men by the names of Sinai, and a rooter of mountains; because they beat and brake the rocks in pieces, the traditions that are difficult and deep.”

The phrase is also used of removing difficulties in a civil and political sense, as well as in a theological one l: but let a man be able to do ever such great things, yet if he has not “charity”, love to God, to Christ and to his people, he is nothing at all; as the apostle says of himself, supposing it was his own case,

I am nothing; not nothing as a man, nor nothing as a gifted man, still he would be a man, and a man of gifts; nor does the apostle say, that his gifts were nothing, that the gift of prophecy was nothing, or the gift of understanding mysteries nothing, or the gift of knowledge nothing, or the gift of doing miracles nothing, for these are all something, and very great things too, and yet a man in whom the grace of love is wanting, is nothing himself with all these; he is nothing in the account of God, of no esteem with him; he is nothing as a believer in Christ, nor nothing as a Christian. This is also a Jewish way of speaking; for they say m,

“as a bride that is to be adorned with four and twenty ornaments, if she wants anyone of them, , “she is nothing”; so a disciple of a wise man ought to be used to the twenty four books (of the Scripture), and if he is wanting in one of them, , “he is nothing”.”

c T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 134. 1. & Succa, fol. 28. 1. d Zohar in Numb. fol. 60. 1. e Gregor. Pap. Dialog. l. 1. c. 7. f T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 64. 1. Shalsheleth Hakabala, fol. 25. 2. Juchasin, fol. 95. 2. & 160. 2. Ganz Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 32. 2. Halichot Olam, p. 23, 207. g Gloss. in T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 29. 1. Juchasin, fol. 44. 2. h T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 24. 1. i T. Bab. Horayot, fol. 14. 1. Juchasin, fol. 112. 1. k Tzeror Hammor, fol. 39. 3. & 126. 4. l Vid. T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 3. 2. m Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 18. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The ecstatic gifts (verse 1) are worthless. Equally so are the teaching gifts (prophecy, knowledge of mysteries, all knowledge). Crasis here in = . Paul is not condemning these great gifts. He simply places love above them and essential to them. Equally futile is wonder-working faith “so as to remove mountains” ( ) without love. This may have been a proverb or Paul may have known the words of Jesus (Matt 17:20; Matt 21:21).

I am nothing ( ). Not , nobody, but an absolute zero. This form in rather than () had a vogue for a while (Robertson, Grammar, p. 219).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

All mysteries [ ] . The mysteries, all of them. See on Rom 11:25. The article indicates the well – known spiritual problems which exercise men’s minds.

All faith [ ] . All the special faith which works miracles.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And though I have the gift of prophecy,” (kai ean echo propheteian) “And if I have (the gift of) prophecy.” Even the gift of foretelling or forthtelling, void of divine, high, holy, or spiritual love would be of little real value,

2) “And understand all mysteries” (kai eido ta musterian panta) “And perceive all the mysteries” -Hypothetically, Paul suggests that possible perception of all the mysteries of life, creation, death, and the hereafter, apart from or void of the controlling gift of Love would leave one empty.

3) “And all knowledge;” (kai pasan ten gnosin) “And (perceive) all (the areas of) knowledge.” Knowledge of all the sciences, arts, mysteries, and revelations of all realms of accumulated and organized knowledge of all times, without love, is unprofitable. All true love emanates from the love of God, Joh 3:16; Joh 13:34-35.

4) “And though I have all faith,” (kan echo pasan ten pistin) “And if I have or hold all the faith – the system of Divine teachings.” The term “the faith” used in the original language comprehends both the gift of faith and the entire system of teachings of Jesus Christ Important as the gift of faith is, without love, it would be nothing.

5) “So that I could remove mountains,” (hoste hore methistanai) “So much as to remove mountains.” The gift of faith and even the system of teachings of Christ, without Divine love, would never enable one to remove literal mountains or figurative mountains – mountains of difficulty.

6) “And have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (agapen de me echo, outhen eimi) “But I have or hold not Divine love, I am nothing – not a thing.” Paul not only exalts the charismatic gift of Divine love, one of the six major attributes of God, but also emphasizes that fleshly clamor for other gifts is without divine sanction or approval.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

2. And if I should have the gift of prophecy. He brings down to nothing the dignity of even this endowment, (777) which, nevertheless, he had preferred to all others. To know all mysteries, might seem to be added to the term prophecy, by way of explanation, but as the term knowledge is immediately added, of which he had previously made mention by itself, (1Co 12:8,) it will deserve your consideration, whether the knowledge of mysteries may not be used here to mean wisdom. As for myself, while I would not venture to affirm that it is so, I am much inclined to that opinion.

That faith, of which he speaks, is special, as is evident from the clause that is immediately added — so that I remove mountains Hence the Sophists accomplish nothing, when they pervert this passage for the purpose of detracting from the excellence of faith. As, therefore, the term faith is ( πολύσημον ) used in a variety of senses, it is the part of the prudent reader to observe in what signification it is taken. Paul, however, as I have already stated, is his own interpreter, by restricting faith, here, to miracles. It is what Chrysostom calls the “faith of miracles,” and what we term a “special faith,” because it does not apprehend a whole Christ, but simply his power in working miracles; and hence it may sometimes exist in a man without the Spirit of sanctification, as it did in Judas. (778)

(777) “ La dignite mesme de la prophetie;” — “The dignity even of prophecy.”

(778) The reader will observe, that this is, in substance, what has been stated by Calvin previously, when commenting on 1Co 12:10. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(2) Prophecy.The Apostle valued the gift of prophecyi.e., preachingmore highly than the gift of tongues, which stood first in Corinthian estimation. He therefore naturally selects it as coming into the same condemnation, if unaccompanied by love. All the secrets of Gods providence and complete knowledge (see 1Co. 12:8), even such a transcendent faith as Christ had spoken of as capable of moving mountains (Mat. 17:20), may belong to a man, and without love he is nothing. We must not take these words as implying that the Apostle possessed this vast knowledge and faith personally. The whole argument is put hypotheticallyit supposes a man possessed of these qualities.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

2. All mysteries Blessed mysteries, such as Jesus indicated, Mar 4:11, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven;” namely, the revelations unfolded by Christianity to man. These mysteries were for ages concealed. Eph 3:9; Col 1:26. There are also mysteries of iniquity. 2Th 2:7.

Faith A divinely energized power of will, so that it moves external nature as the ordinary volition moves the body. See note on Mat 17:20.

Have not charity That miraculous endowments are not confined to the holy is indicated by the cases of Balaam, Samson, and the witch of Endor. Note on Act 8:24. The apostle only supposes a possible thing in a most extraordinary degree.

Nothing All these endowments put together leave me a moral cypher.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.’

And this is not only true of tongues, it is true of the other manifestations as well. It is not only tongues that are in his sights. He does not call such manifestations gifts in this chapter, nor does he say they are manifestations of the Spirit. Indeed, without love they clearly are not, for it is love which is the hallmark of those whom God has chosen. He merely mentions them by description.

I ‘have prophecy’, that is the ability to prophesy devoid of love, (note how ‘have prophecy’ contrasts with ‘have love’), I may appear to know all mysteries and all knowledge, I may appear to have an abundance of faith so that I can work miracles and deal with great problems, but if I am lacking in love then, as far as God is concerned, I am nothing. Indeed both Jesus and John confirmed this, for Jesus said that love is the basis of all the commandments, including the commandments to honour and worship God (Mar 12:29-31), and John stressed that if we do not have love we do not know God at all (1Jn 4:8; 1Jn 3:10).

We should note that this is not just Paul’s idea. Jesus Himself confirms that prophecy and miracles are no proof that a man is truly a Christian. He declared quite specifically that men could think that they were prophesying in His name and could do ‘miracles’, professedly in His name, and yet not ever have been known by Him (Mat 7:22). Such manifestations are no proof of genuine faith in God.

Paul’s case is, of course, deliberately exaggerated for emphasis. Note the use of ‘all’. And he does not use the words ‘appear to have’, for he is speaking of outward manifestations which can be seen. They have the manifestations whether they are of God or not. We have used the words ‘appear to have’ because no one who truly has these  as gifts from God through His Spirit  will be lacking in love. It is rather a warning to those who outwardly appear to have ‘gifts’, but whose gifts may be imitations and may have come from another source, that they need to consider the true source and value of their gifts.

‘If I have prophecy.’ Prophecy without love is empty. It is thus self-induced, or worse, induced by false spirits. I may ‘have prophecy’ almost as though it were mine to do what I like with, but I may not have the Spirit. Here we have a clear indication that outward manifestations are not necessarily a proof of spirituality.

‘And know all mysteries and all knowledge.’ This was probably exaggerating a claim that some Corinthians were making as a result of still being influenced by their previous background in the mystery religions (compare 1Co 8:1-2). There men claimed wisdom and knowledge and an understanding of mysteries. These Corinthians saw themselves as achieving the same in the Christian church. They saw themselves as above the rest, as not needing the rest. ‘All mysteries and all knowledge’ probably parallels ‘wisdom and knowledge’ for in 1Co 2:7 it is made clear that mystery is a part of wisdom, the mystery that is linked with the crucified Lord of glory.

Yet the same ideas can be transformed and seen to be true for the Christian as the ‘word of wisdom’ and the ‘word of knowledge’ indicate, although there the wisdom and knowledge (and mystery – 1Co 2:1; 1Co 2:7) are closely associated with the full revelation of Christ, and with the Holy Spirit (1Co 12:8 with 1Co 1:24 ; 1Co 1:30; 1Co 2:6-7; 1Co 2:11-16). And Daniel declares in Dan 2:21-22 (see especially LXX) that true wisdom, and knowledge and revealed mystery are given by God.

‘And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains.’ Paul almost certainly has indirectly in mind the words of Jesus in Mar 11:23 and Mat 17:20, although ‘moving mountains’ may well have been a proverbial saying. Here he is depicting not only faith as depicted in 1Co 12:9 but an extreme of faith, ‘all faith’, and therefore certainly sufficient to remove mountains. (Jesus said that it would only need the faith of a grain of mustard seed, but Paul is looking at it as seen by men. He is thinking of ‘faith’ as exalted by men, not true faith in God which is hardly possible without love).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

1Co 13:2. All mysteries, and all knowledge Any predictions relating to our Saviour or his doctrine, or the times of the Gospel contained in the Old Testament, in types, or figurative and obscure expressions, not understood before his coming, and being then revealed to the world, St. Paul calls mysteries, says Mr. Locke, as may be seen all through his writings; so that mystery and knowledge are terms here used to signify truths concerning Christ to come, contained in the Old Testament; and prophesy, the understanding of the types and prophesies containing those truths so as to be able to explain them to others. See on chap. 1Co 12:8. By faith to remove mountains, or to do that which is impossible, except by a miracle, must be meant the miraculous faith spoken of ch. 1Co 12:9 and as it is here supposed that this faith might in fact be separated from love, it cannotsignify the same as in the Epistle to the Romans, where it is “such an assent to a divine declaration, as produces a suitable temper and conduct.”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

1Co 13:2 . That Paul adduces only two charismata ( and ) in the protasis, and consequently uses to mark out the degree of , is shown plainly by himself in his repeating the . In the case of these gifts also he is supposing the highest conceivable degree.

] the whole of the mysteries, i.e. what remains hidden from human knowledge without revelation, as, in particular, the divine decrees touching redemption and the future relations of the Messianic kingdom, 1Co 4:1 ; Mat 13:11 ; Rom 16:25 , al [2052]

] profound knowledge of these mysteries, as 1Co 12:8 . The verb connected with it is , but in such a way that the latter is to be taken here zeugmatically in the sense: I am at home in (Homer, Od. ii. 121; Il. xviii. 363, xv. 412). Observe further, that before it was , but here , which has the emphasis; translate: “ the mysteries one and all, and all knowledge .” To these two departments correspond the and the in 1Co 12:8 .

. . . [2053] ] the whole heroism of faith (not specially the faith of miracles , see on 1Co 12:9 ), so that I displace mountains .

The latter phrase in a proverbial sense (to realize the seemingly impossible), as Jesus Himself (Mat 17:20 ; Mat 21:21 ) had already portrayed the omnipotence of faith. But without love, even in such an instance of the might of faith there would still not be the fides salvifica , Mat 7:22 .

] in an ethical respect, without any significance and value . Comp 2Co 12:11 ; Arist. Eccl. 144; Soph. Oed. Rex , 56; Xen. Anab. vi. 2. 10, al [2055] ; Wis 3:17 ; Wis 9:6 ; Bornemann, a [2056] Xen. Cyr. vi. 2. 8; Stallbaum, a [2057] Plat. Symp. p. 216 E; Ellendt, Lex. Soph. II. 430.

Notice further, that Paul only supposes the cases in 1Co 13:1-2 in a general way; but they must be conceived of as possible ; and their possibility arises from the fact that, in the midst of the charismatic phenomena which made their appearance as if by contagion in the church, men might be carried away and rapt into states of exaltation without the presence of the true ground of the new inward life, the new creature, the true and (Rom 6:4 ; Rom 7:6 ).

[2052] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[2053] . . . .

[2055] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[2056] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

[2057] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

Ver. 2. And have not charity ] If I knew and did all for ostentation, not for edification; as Stephen Gardiner, who blew up his gifts to the view of others, as butchers blow up their flesh. Chrysostom saith that to show mercy is a more glorious work than to raise from the dead. Removing of mountains is instanced, because noted by our Saviour as a master miracle,Mat 17:20Mat 17:20 ; Luk 17:6 . A man may cast out devils, and yet be cast to the devil.

And have not charity, it profiteth me nothing ] The same is true of all other parts of obedience, whether active or passive. If we were as constant frequenters of the Church as Anna the prophetess was of the temple, Luk 2:36-38 , si aures nostrae ad portam Ecclesiae fixae essent, saith one, if our ears were nailed to the church doors, if our knees were grown as hard as camel’s knees with much kneeling before the Lord, if our faces were furrowed with continual weeping, as Peter’s is said to have been, yet if we lacked charity, all were nothing.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

2. ] . are all the secrets of the divine counsel , see Rom 11:25 (note); Rom 16:25 , and reff. The knowledge of these would be the perfection of the gift of prophecy. The verb belongs to both . and . The full construction would be . and .

hardly, as Stanley, implies ‘ all the faith in the world ,’ but rather, ‘all the faith required to,’ &c.: or perhaps the art. conveys the allusion to our Lord’s saying, Mat 17:20 ; Mat 21:21 ; ‘all that faith,’so as, &c.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1Co 13:2 . Prophecy in its widest range, and faith at its utmost stretch in those lacking love, both amount to “nothing!” ( ) . . ., “If I know all the mysteries (of revelation) and all the knowledge (relating thereto),” explains by stating the source, or resources, from which “prophecy” is drawn: . (attached somewhat awkwardly to ), combined with . ., posits a mental grasp of the contents of revelation added to the supernatural insight which discovers them (see notes on and , 1Co 12:8 ff.), as e.g . in the case of Isaiah . Hn [1967] supplies , instead of the nearer , before . ( cf. 1Co 8:1 ; 1Co 8:10 ), reading “if I have all knowledge” as a second, distinct assumption following on “if I know all mysteries,” on account of the incongruity of Prophecy and Knowledge; but the point of P.’s extreme supposition lies in this unusual combination the intellect of a philosopher joined to the inspiration of a seer. For , see note on 1Co 2:1 . (see note on 1Co 12:9 ) an allusion to the hyperbolical sayings of Jesus ad rem (Mat 17:20 ; Mat 21:21 ; see notes in vol. i.); in the pr [1968] (continuous) inf [1969] “to remove mountain after mountain” (Ed [1970] ). Whatever God may be pleased to accomplish through such a man ( cf. 1Co 3:9 ), he is personally worthless. On the form , see Wr [1971] , p. 48; for the thought, cf. 1Co 3:18 , 2Co 12:11 , Gal 6:3 .

[1967] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklrung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

[1968] present tense.

[1969] infinitive mood.

[1970] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2

[1971] Winer-Moulton’s Grammar of N.T. Greek (8th ed., 1877).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

understand = know. App-132.

mysteries. App-193.

knowledge. App-132.

faith. App-150.

remove. Greek. methistemi. See Act 13:22.

nothing. Greek. oudeis.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

2.] . are all the secrets of the divine counsel,-see Rom 11:25 (note); Rom 16:25,-and reff. The knowledge of these would be the perfection of the gift of prophecy. The verb belongs to both . and . The full construction would be . and .

hardly, as Stanley, implies all the faith in the world, but rather, all the faith required to, &c.: or perhaps the art. conveys the allusion to our Lords saying, Mat 17:20; Mat 21:21; all that faith,so as, &c.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

1Co 13:2. , mysteries) Rom 11:25, note. He does not add wisdom, which is nothing without love.- , and all knowledge) This is construed with , I understand, as being a word of kindred meaning and immediately preceding. Of those gifts, which are enumerated at ch. 12, Paul at ch. 13. selected such as are more remarkable, and to which the peculiar prerogatives of love are fitly opposed. Mysteries relate to things concealed; knowledge comprehends things which are more ready at hand, and more necessary, as Wissenschaften is commonly said of natural things-, faith) ch. 1Co 12:9, note.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

1Co 13:2

1Co 13:2

And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.-Though he should have all these greater gifts and have not love, or fail to perform the commands of God toward God and man, he would be a spiritual bankrupt before heaven and earth.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

I have the: 1Co 12:8-10, 1Co 12:28, 1Co 14:1, 1Co 14:6-9, Num 24:15-24, Mat 7:22, Mat 7:23

understand: 1Co 4:1, Mat 13:11, Rom 11:25, Rom 16:25, Eph 3:4, Eph 6:19, Col 1:26, 1Ti 3:16

and though I have all: 1Co 12:9, Mat 17:20, Mat 21:21, Mar 11:22, Mar 11:23, Luk 17:5, Luk 17:6

and have: 1Co 13:1, 1Co 13:3, 1Co 16:22, Gal 5:16, Gal 5:22, 1Jo 4:8, 1Jo 4:20, 1Jo 4:21

I am: 1Co 13:3, 1Co 7:19, 1Co 8:4, Mat 21:19, 2Co 12:11, Gal 6:3

Reciprocal: Num 24:16 – General 1Sa 19:23 – the Spirit 1Ki 13:20 – the word of the Lord Job 9:5 – removeth Psa 18:7 – foundations Isa 34:12 – nothing Mat 21:43 – a nation Mar 9:39 – there Luk 8:13 – which Luk 10:20 – in this Joh 11:51 – he prophesied Act 3:16 – through Act 26:3 – because Rom 12:6 – then 1Co 1:5 – and in 1Co 3:7 – General 1Co 8:1 – touching 1Co 10:19 – that the 1Co 12:10 – prophecy 1Co 14:2 – howbeit 1Co 15:51 – I show 2Co 8:7 – faith 1Th 5:20 – General Tit 3:9 – unprofitable Heb 6:4 – and have Jam 2:14 – though Jam 2:18 – Thou

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY

And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

1Co 13:2

The spirit of love is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Is there any test by which as you search the Gospels you will find our Lord so constantly measuring what men are and do as by the test of love? That is the point to which He penetrates always. One man is perplexed about duty, about a possible conflict of duties perhaps, and he is reminded that on the love of God and our neighbour alone hang alike the obligations and the hopes of mankind. Another, putting a similar question, is shown to his dismay that he loves his income more than his ideals. And a woman who has wasted her life in wilful wrong is welcomed back to God, and her account clean written off, because there is something still in her which can feel and echo the generosity of the love of God.

I. St. Paul had learnt this lesson from our Master Himself.Everything matters, no doubt; but what matters most, what gives most character and value to our moments as they pass and to ourselves as they grow, is what we really care for, and whether we are governed by impulse, instinct, preference, on the one hand, or by the sacred grace of love on the other. The Christian law and gospel may be packed into a small sentence. If we have once apprehended the love of God drawing out mans power of love, Divine self-sacrifice making human unselfishness possible, we have found something which will make life at its hardest worth living. To give ones best! Reverently, one may say that our Lord Himself could do no more. For their sakes I consecrate Myself. But if we win faith, or knowledge, or energy, or personal power, or all these together, and yet have never found out the humbling secret that we must set the sign of the Cross upon the heart, we have but found our life to lose it in the finding.

II. The word love is one that has suffered from usage.It may connote anything, from sensual instinct to ideal devotion, from sentimentality to self-oblation. But find out what it really means to a man, and you have the key to his real self, you have the form of his true and inner creed. You will also know whether he possesses happiness in himself, and whether the contagion of his character is of the kind that creates happiness or not. Or scrutinise an unhappy or half-happy family, and you are sure to find that the secret of the trouble is that some one there, or everybody there, has a poor idea of love; they have never found out how much can be done by generosity, by making room for other people, by effacing oneself, by opportune reticence, by kindly imagination and forethought, all of which are just forms or fruits of the very same force which drew the incarnate Lord to our world and to His Cross.

III. Thou shalt love, with heart, soul, and mindlove God and thy neighbour, says the essence of the law. And to answer that love cannot be made to order does not divert the force of the commandment in the least. You cannot command instinct or involuntary preference, but you can school the heart and train the will towards the giving out of your best. That which is perfect is not to be had cheaply; it does not belong to the lucky temperament. It is to be had by striving and won by obedience. God says to the selfishness which will not give way, Thou shalt; and something within us answers, however reluctantly, Love may be, hath been, indeed, and is. There it was, in His condescension; there it is, in His glory; here it may be, in all who will follow Him along the royal road of the Holy Cross.

Rev. H. N. Bate.

Illustration

If we required conviction and the truth that something new and strong, incredibly new, supernaturally strong, came into being with the birth of the Church in the Jewish and the Gentile worlds, we need read the Pauline Epistles no further than this. Artlessly, with undesigned simplicity, by way of allusion merely, St. Paul bears his testimony to the powers whose instrument he was commissioned to be. Yet something stronger, more striking, remains behind. As it was with the miracles of the Gospel, so it is with those of the Church. We are not to rest in them. The seeing of signs and wonders is not the faith toward which it points. I show you, says St. Paul, a more excellent way. The gifts have their place and are to be desired earnestly. Yet here is the greatness of the Apostle, or rather of the creed which inspired him, that all his sense of the signs of his apostleship begets in him no disproportion. The greater thing remains behind.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

1Co 13:2. Some of the most outstanding spiritual gifts are named in this verse for specimens, and even they are nothing in the absence of love for the brethren.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

1Co 13:2. And though I have the gift of prophecya gift above tongues (chap. 14), for uttering the mind of God by immediate inspiration, but often for the opening of the Scriptures, to which the reference is here, as appears from the next words.

and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge:Though I could lay bare the whole scheme of God towards the Church, from its most rudimentary to its ripest form in Scripture, without love I am nothing (see Mat 7:22).

and though I have all faith, so as to remove mountainsthat gift of which our Lord speaks (Mat 17:20, and see on 1Co 12:9), which enabled its possessor, on giving the word of command, to work stupendous miracles (an example of which may be seen in Peter, Act 3:6, etc.).

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Farther, Suppose I had the spirit of prophecy, and could speak by inspiration of things present, and things to come, and could understand deep and difficult points in God’s word and works, what is this more than Balaam had?

And suppose I have all faith, that is, the highest degree of miraculous faith, so that I could remove mountains; yet this, severed from charity, or the predominant love of God and our neighbour, is all nothing. And I am nothing, that is, nothing worth in the sight of God.

Observe here, That miraculous faith may be severed from charity, but justifying faith cannot, which always worketh by love; and wherever that grace is found, it gives value and acceptance to all other graces.

Faith without charity is but a dead assent; hope without charity is but like a tympany, the bigger it grows, the more dangerous it proves; and the most diffusive alms-giving, without love, is but a sacrifice to vanity.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Vv. 2. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and [though I have] all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing.

The apostle rises to the higher gifts. The gift of the prophet and that of the teacher (knowledge) are here joined together by the expression: knowing all mysteries, which, from its position, seems to be connected with both. And in fact both relate to the understanding of God’s plan of salvation. Now this plan is the supreme mystery, and contains within it all particular mysteries (comp. 1Co 2:7). It is to the latter, to certain details as to the final accomplishment of salvation, for example, that the revelations granted to the prophets specially refer; whereas knowledge denotes the understanding of salvation itself in its totality, and as already accomplished and revealed in Christ. The expression , to know knowledge, is a familiar form in Greek. To be remarked is the article before , the knowledge, a form by which Paul means: all it is possible to have; and the adjective , all, thrice repeated, with the words mystery, knowledge, and faith, supposes each of those gifts possessed in its ideal perfection, like that of tongues in 1Co 13:1.

Commentators explain otherwise than I have done the relation between the three propositions concerning prophecy, the understanding of mysteries and knowledge. Heinrici finds two gifts here: (1) prophecy, with which he connects the understanding of mysteries, and (2) knowledge properly so called. But how can knowledge () be thus separated from () knowing? Edwards rather connects the second proposition with the third. Meyer applies the three propositions to one and the same gift, prophecy; but 1Co 12:8 expressly distinguishes prophecy from knowledge.

Faith is taken here in the same sense as in 1Co 12:9; the assurance, founded on the feeling of reconciliation, that nothing can resist us when we are really doing the work of God. Possible obstacles are represented under the figure of a mountain to be removed, as in Mat 17:20. The abrupt brevity of the phrase which closes this paragraph: I am nothing, contrasts with the long developments given to the preceding propositions. Behold the fruit of all those magnificent gifts: all speech, all knowledge, all power, and yet nothing! What such a man has done may be of value to the Church; to himself it is nothing, because there was no love in it. Love alone is anything in the eyes of love.

But how is it credible that a man can reach this height of knowledge and power in God without love? Here, again, are we not face to face with an impossible supposition? No; the faith of first days may develop more or less exclusively in the direction of knowledge (1Co 13:2 a) or of force of will (1Co 13:2 b), as well as in the direction of sensibility (1Co 13:1); comp. Luk 9:54, where James and John ask the Lord to bring down fire from heaven on the Samaritan village. Faith is there, but where is charity? This is what Jesus points out to them. Or there are believers who may have preserved the gift of prophesying, of driving out demons, of working miracles, while in the eyes of Him who tries the heart and reins they are only workers of iniquity; comp. Mat 7:22. In our day, too, one may be a celebrated theologian, the instrument of powerful revivals, the author of beautiful works in the kingdom of God, a missionary with a name filling the world; if in all these things the man is self-seeking, and if it is not the Divine breath of charity which animates him, in God’s eyes this is only seeming, not being. The apostle goes further still.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [Love is next compared with the gifts of prophecy and miracle-working faith mentioned in the last chapter. The gift of prophecy manifested itself in two ways: 1. Ability to receive revelations of those counsels of God which were either not revealed at all, or else concealed in mystery (Mat 13:11; Rom 16:25; 1Co 2:7; Eph 3:3; Eph 3:9; Col 1:26). 2. Ability to fully understand the revelations in all their bearings upon present and future life, former revelations, dispensations, etc. This latter Paul calls “knowledge.” The phrase “I would not have you ignorant,” so familiar in his writings, shows how frequently he used this knowledge to impart the full truth to others. The fate of those who exercised the gift of prophecy and miracles without love is described at Mat 7:21-23 . Balaam, Judas and Caiaphas may be taken as examples, and Satan himself is partially such. To say that one possessed of such gifts was “nothing”–a spiritual cipher–was a crushing blow to the pride and vanity of the Corinthians. We see that Paul agrees with James that faith which does not work in love is profitless– Jam 2:26; comp. Gal 5:6; 1Th 1:3]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

2. Though I have prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have faith so as to remove mountains, and have not Divine love, I am nothing. Here is a case of a man having four of these wonderful, extraordinary spiritual gifts, i. e., prophecy, wisdom, knowledge and faith, and yet, like Balaam, whose beautiful and transcendent eloquence charms every Bible reader, must make his bed in Hell. You must keep up the distinction here incessantly between the gifts and the graces; e. g., we see in this case the man has faith; if he had the grace of faith, he would be saved; but Paul is not talking about the grace of faith, but the gift, which has no salvation in it for its possessor, while its province is to save others. Many souls have been saved through the instrumentality of people who, at that time, themselves were not saved. The truth is the instrument of salvation on condition of faith. God will honor His own truth though preached by the devil. Hence, many a man instrumental in saving a few souls preaches his way down to Hell. In my own observation I once knew a notorious drunkard who was a very powerful preacher. I have known him to go away in a strange place and keep sober till he could have a sweeping revival, and I have personally known some of his converts bearing the beautiful fruits of righteousness. John A. Murrill, a noted highway robber, was a powerful preacher, frequently going into a strange place, raising a great stir, getting all the people down on their knees, and exhorting them with all his might to give their hearts to the Lord and get converted, meanwhile his clan out stealing their horses. This chapter, which is parenthetical on grace, by which we are saved, and without which we are lost, even though possessing rare and valuable gifts, specifies nothing but the Divine love, which is really comprehensive of all the graces of the Spirit, agapee being generic, while the subordinate graces are specific; e. g., humility is love at the feet of Jesus; patience is love enduring; long-suffering is love on trial; faith is love on the battlefield, and hope is love in anticipation. Hence all the graces are resolvable into love.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 2

All knowledge; all religious knowledge.–So that I could remove mountains, referring, perhaps, to our Savior’s declaration. Matthew 17:20.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

13:2 And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all {c} faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

(c) By “faith” he means the gift of doing miracles, and not that faith which justifies, which cannot be void of charity as the other may.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Prophecy was a higher gift than glossolalia (speaking in tongues) but was still inferior to love (cf. 1Co 14:1-5). Earlier Paul wrote of the importance of understanding life from God’s perspective and grasping the truths previously not revealed but now made known by His apostles (1Co 2:6-13). Nevertheless the truth without love is like food without drink. Possession of spiritual gifts is not the sign of the Spirit, but loving behavior is.

Even faith great enough to move mountains is not as important as love (1Co 12:9; cf. Mat 17:20; Mar 11:23; Luk 17:6). A mountain is a universal symbol of something immovable. This is hyperbole.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)